Method of manufacturing a sword or sparring instrument

Abstract

Disclosed are methods of making polymeric swords and sparring instruments having improved mechanical properties. In one embodiment, a method of making a polymeric sword includes centering a flexible support member on either a first half of a sword mold or on a second half of the sword mold; pouring a polymer mixture into the first half the sword mold and into the second half of the sword mold and closing the sword mold by clasping the first half of the sword mold to the second half of the sword mold; heating the sword mold comprising the polymer mixture in a heating apparatus; and removing the polymeric sword from the sword mold.

I claim: 
     
       1. A method of making a polymeric sword, comprising the steps of:
 centering a flexible support member on either a first half of a sword mold or on a second half of the sword mold; 
 pouring a polymer mixture into the first half the sword mold and into the second half of the sword mold and closing the sword mold by clasping the first half of the sword mold to the second half of the sword mold; 
 heating the sword mold comprising the polymer mixture in a heating apparatus; and 
 removing the polymeric sword from the sword mold. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of spraying a wax-based release agent on the first half of the sword mold and on the second half of the sword mold before centering the flexible support member. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of rotating the sword mold before heating the sword mold. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of hanging the sword mold from one end for a period of time at room temperature after heating the sword mold. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the polymer mixture is a polymer polyol mixture. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5 , wherein the polymer polyol mixture is a machine perfused polyurethane mixture. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of heating the sword mold comprises heating the sword mold between 45-55 degrees Celsius for 10-15 minutes. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the flexible support member comprises a substantially cylindrical hollow core extending from a handle support portion of the polymeric sword to a blade support portion of the polymeric sword. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 8 , further comprising the step of exposing a first aperture of the substantially cylindrical hollow core at a first end of the flexible support member and exposing a second aperture of the substantially cylindrical hollow core at a second end of the flexible support member. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising rotating the closed sword mold around its longitudinal center of axis. 
     
     
       11. A method of making a sparring instrument, comprising the steps of:
 centering a flexible support member on either a first half of a sparring instrument mold or on a second half of the sparring instrument mold; 
 pouring a polymer mixture into the first half the sparring instrument mold and into the second half of the sparring instrument mold and closing the sparring instrument mold by clasping the first half of the sparring instrument mold to the second half of the sparring instrument mold; 
 heating the sparring instrument mold comprising the polymer mixture in a heating apparatus; and 
 removing the sparring instrument from the sparring instrument mold. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of spraying a wax-based release agent on the first half of the sparring instrument mold and on the second half of the sparring instrument mold before centering the flexible support member. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 11 , further comprising the step of rotating the sparring instrument mold before heating the sparring instrument mold. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 11 , further comprising the step of hanging the sparring instrument mold from one end for a period of time at room temperature after heating the sparring instrument mold. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the polymer mixture is a polymer polyol mixture. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 15 , wherein the polymer polyol mixture is a machine perfused polyurethane mixture. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the step of heating the sparring instrument mold comprises heating the sparring instrument mold between 45-55 degrees Celsius for 10-15 minutes. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the flexible support member comprises a substantially cylindrical hollow core extending from a handle support portion of the sparring instrument to a distal portion of the sparring instrument. 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 18 , further comprising the step of exposing a first aperture of the substantially cylindrical hollow core at a first end of the flexible support member and exposing a second aperture of the substantially cylindrical hollow core at a second end of the flexible support member. 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 11 , further comprising rotating the closed sparring instrument mold around its longitudinal center of axis.